


The Slum Kids

by Celeste_Sirius



Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Daniel and Jaehwan are best friends, Daniel be pinning after a certain boy, Just writing for fun, M/M, Not Beta Read, Seongwu and Minhyun are best friends, Slow Burn, Social Media, because lets be real discrimination is still real and alive, daniel is a sweetheart who wants the best for seongwu, hope you guys enjoy, i really want this story to mean something, i should go back to watching riverdale now, mental illnesses are talked about in this story, so is discrimination, the rich vs. the poor kind of thing, there's some violence in this story but not too much for the archive warnings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-05
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-06-22 12:17:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15581838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Celeste_Sirius/pseuds/Celeste_Sirius
Summary: Ong Seongwu and Hwang Minhyun are just trying to get through high school, work their assess off, and escape their terrible hometown and lives. But life never goes the way they plan.OOORRRRRRRRR.......This is what happens when you watch Riverdale and certain scenes inspire you to write a fanfic.





	1. Gangnam vs. Binmingul

Sunlight shone through the windows of the small home. A man laid by the windows, on the couch, snoring, with no indications that he was getting up at any moment. Tiptoeing around him was a younger man with a comma-hairstyle wearing a basic white t-shirt and jeans. The young man picked up empty beer bottles and threw them into a trash bag. He stretched and groaned when he heard his back crack a bit. 

He looked around the living room. Beer bottles everywhere. The wallpaper was peeling off. There were cracks in the ceiling. Lights flickering on and off. And the young man was pretty sure the water was off at the moment. 

_ What a dump, _ he thought. And at the man sleeping on the couch,  _ what a guy.  _

But this dump was his and his sister’s dump that provided a roof over their head and some sort of safety from the outside world. And the man passed out on the couch was their father. The one parent that didn’t abandon them.

“Oppa, oppa,” a small girl ran up to hug his leg. Her black hair was in tangles. She had been trying to replicate the braids she saw on her friends but to no avail. Her oppa was of no help either.

The boy shushed his sister and glanced at their father. Not even a stir. Carefully picking her up, he tiptoed their way out of the living room, dumping the trash bag near the kitchen fridge, and entered the bedroom that the siblings shared. 

“Come on, Eunae,” the boy sat her down on their shared bed. “Let’s get you ready for class.” He opened one of the drawers searching for the girl’s uniform.

“Okay, Seongwu oppa,” Eunae frowned, watching her oppa look through the drawers for her skirt, forgetting that her skirt had been ripped apart by the neighbor’s dog. 

\-----

“You’re late, Ong.”

Seongwu and Eunae ran to the bus stop and greeted Hwang Minhyun. 

Tall, broad, and like a cold prince. That’s how Eunae would describe Seongwu’s friend Hwang Minhyun. How in the world did a 6-year old girl know the words  _ tall _ and  _ broad _ would always leave her oppas wondering, but Minhyun gladly accepted the compliment because it came from Eunae herself. 

“Minhyun oppa,” Eunae smiled brightly, “why did the cow cross the streets?”

Minhyun got down on one knee. “I don’t know, Eunae. Why did the cow cross the streets?”

“To get to the  _ mooooo _ -vies,” Eunae exclaimed, throwing her arms into the air, and launching herself at Minhyun for a great big hug. Minhyun laughed and hugged the little girl back. His eyes then traveled to his friend who was huffing and puffing and trying to get the air back into his lungs, because this boy had no stamina left after running.

“You seriously need to improve your stamina, Ong,” Minhyun clicked his tongue. 

“No wonder oppa is failing gym class,” Eunae chuckled. 

“Yah, how do you know that?” Seongwu’s breathing had not gone back to normal, and his cheeks were still flushed. 

“Sungwoon oppa,” Euane stuck her tongue out. 

Rolling his eyes, Seongwu made a mental note to himself to have a talk with Sungwoon later.

The bus arrived at the stop, and the doors opened. The bus driver waved at the trio. But neither of them got on. Like usual. The doors shut and the trio watched the bus leave in less than a minute.

Watching the bus until it left their line of vision, Minhyun told Seongwu, “Ready to drop off Eunae?”

\------

“Bye oppa!” Eunae waved from her 1st grade classroom. Beside her, her Teacher Kahi waved goodbye at Seongwu and Minhyun as well.

Leaving elementary school grounds, they saw mothers clutching onto both their child and their Louis Vuitton purses. Fathers regularly checking their Apple watches while dragging their child to class. This scenery was not unusual considering that they were in Gangnam. Where the rich people with the Teslas and Gucci products lived. 

Ong Seongwu and Hwang Minhyun weren’t from Gangnam though. Instead they lived right next door to the Gangnam district in an area called the slums, otherwise known as the “Binmingul”. The large and sleek skyscrapers of Gangnam contrasted that of the gray and broken down buildings of the slums. The scene of rich Gangnam residents carrying overpriced coffee versus the scene of elderly ladies in the Slums begging for a jug of water. It astounded tourists that such a high class city could be located to one of the oldest and probably the last slum in South Korea. 

The bus stop where Seongwu and Minhyun met this morning was the intersecting point between the district and the slums. Going back and forth between Gangnam and the slums was a daily commute for the boys. They had jobs in the district and Eunae attended elementary school there. 

They arrived at a crosswalk and waited among the people whose judgemental stares, directed towards their basic and simple clothing, could not be anymore obvious. 

“Eunae wore her PE uniform,” Minhyun noted.

“Her old uniform got ripped,” Seongwu sighed. “I need to buy her a new skirt.”

“I can lend you some money.”

Seongwu shook his head. “I have some money saved up from my jobs.” 

Three jobs. That’s how many jobs Seongwu currently worked. He worked at a popular restaurant in Gangnam, as a pizza delivery boy during, and did valet parking at a hotel. With their final year of high school approaching, Minhyun urged Seongwu to quit one of his jobs. 

“How about your studies? You need to get good grades for college,” Minhyun reminded him.

The other male scoffed.

A college education was everything in South Korea. It’s what young students pursue for each and every day. But for slum kids, it was a fantasy, a dream, that can be hardly achieved. Schooling was free in South Korea up until high school. (Hence why Eunae got to attend elementary school in Gangnam.) Long time ago, the district of Gangnam made the slums high school free for the sake of these young kids’ future, but still hardly any of them took education seriously. Most kids stopped after high school or dropped out along the way. 

Not for Minhyun and Seongwu though. 

They took their education seriously if it meant escaping the slums. Unfortunately, considering the current situation of Seongwu’s family, college was the farthest thing from his mind.  

\-----

On the other side of life, Kang Daniel woke up in his family’s immaculate high-rise apartment. The rays of sun shone through the window - that basically took up the entire wall - and hit his face, therefore, disturbing his sleep. He yawned while throwing off his silky black sheets. His morning routine consisted of looking out his window at the Gangnam view, played with his cats Rooney and Peter, and be fed a loving meal by his mother. 

“Are you really allowed to dye your hair?” his mother fretted over her son’s appearance.

Daniel ran his fingers through his newly dyed blond locks. Cheekily grinning, he told her, “Don’t worry, umma. The academy is chill.” Which was sort of true, but also sort of false. Gangnam Arts and Science Academy (GASA), one of the most reputable schools in the country, had a strict policy over students’ appearances, but students managed to get away with breaking the rules if they paid a fee. Kang Daniel was just going to pay the fee. 

Daniel’s umma placed his bowl in the sink and said the maid will come in later to wash them. 

“Don’t you have plans with your friends right now?” 

Upon being reminded, Daniel cursed and checked his Apple watch. If he doesn’t leave in the next five minutes, he’s going to be late and be the last person to arrive. He jumped off from the stool, grabbed his backpack and skateboard, and kissed his mom goodbye.

\-----

“Cheers!” Daniel copied his friends and raised his glass of iced tea, cheering alongside them. Per tradition, Daniel and his friends came to Nayana Restaurant, a Korean-American fusion restaurant ran by the family of Daniel’s friend Yoon Jisung. Being the last person to arrive, Daniel had to carry out the penalty: pay for today’s meal and drinks.

“To the start of our second year!” They cheered one more time before drowning their iced tea in one gulp. Jaehwan, Daniel’s best friend, ordered another round of drinks when Daniel spotted his favorite worker coming in. Like an excited puppy, Daniel excused himself from the table and bounded towards his favorite hyung. Without his noticing, Daniel wrapped his arms around Seongwu’s waist and spun him around, eliciting a startled gasp from the latter. 

“Daniel, put me down!” Seongwu laughed. 

“I don’t want to, hyung,” Daniel stopped spinning. From an outsider point of view, they seemed like a rather intimate couple: Daniel’s arms wrapped around Seongwu’s frame, with the latter placing his hands on the former’s shoulder, their faces so close that if Daniel leaned up he could capture his hyung’s lips with his own. And Daniel thought about it. That if he just brought his face a  _ tiny bit _ closer to Seongwu’s then he could get a taste of his hyung’s sweet lips. To him, Seongwu was the most beautiful being in the world, with his comma hairstyle, three moles that looked like a constellation on his face, and his lean and slender frame. 

_ Just a bit closer,  _ Daniel thought. And his body started moving to its own accord. 

That was until someone smacked Daniel on the back of his head. In an abrupt motion Daniel dropped a flustered Seongwu - who managed to catch himself - and grabbed the back of head in slight pain. 

“Hyung!” Daniel spun around to glare at Jisung who held a disapproving look on his face.

“Seongwu is here to work. Do not bother him,” Jisung reprimanded him. 

Ask Daniel what Jisung meant to him and he would probably say, ‘A friend, a brother, and a mother all rolled into one’. But right now, he would say that Jisung was a ‘major cockblock’.

“Seongwu, are you okay?” Jisung asked, ignoring Daniel’s childish glare. 

“I’m a-okay, Jisung,” Seongwu brightly smiled, trying to appear unflustered. “Daniel, here,” he poked the younger’s side, “was just playing around. Living up to his Kang Chodang nickname.” 

Daniel frowned. 

“Just get to work, Seongwu. It’s a busy house today,” Jisung said. 

“Ay, ay, ay!” Seongwu saluted jokingly before heading towards the back to change into his uniform. 

After Seongwu left, Jisung turned to Daniel to have yet  _ another  _ lecture about bothering his workers. But before he could speak, Daniel waved him off, smiling as well, and said he’ll be returning to his friends now.

Jisung watched his dongsaeng’s retreating figure and sighed,  _ these idiots. _

When Daniel reached his friends, no one said anything even though Daniel knew they saw everything that happened. Instead Jaehwan shoved his iPhone into Daniel’s face and told him, “Read Minki’s latest tweet.”

 

**GASP! Gossip** @WinkWinkB*tch | 13 mins 

SOOOOO, apparently, our academy has accepted new transfer students

**GASP! Gossip** @WinkWinkB*tch | 12 mins 

I know I know. Transfer students aren’t new shit or anything

**GASP! Gossip** @WinkWinkB*tch | 10 mins

But rumors have it, THESE NEW TRANSFER KIDS ARE GOING TO BE FROM THE SLUMS!


	2. Life-aches

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introduction of more characters!

Although Minhyun hated Gangnam to the very core of his being, there was a quaint bookstore that he frequented during his free time before his shift at the cafe. The bookstore offered peace and quietness - a stark contrast to the rest of Gangnam. It was perfect for him to just come in and read in silence. Many times the owner came out to greet him cheerfully even though Minhyun never bought a single book. The owner was from the Slums as well, but managed to escape and start up his own little bookstore.  

Today the owner came in and offered a chocolate muffin for Minhyun who graciously accepted it. Choosing to sit in the corner by the window, Minhyun looked forward to reading r.h sin’s poetry book,  _ Whiskey Words and Shovel III,  _ while enjoying a muffin.

 

**_Life-aches._ **

_ The plan was to get better _

_ But there are demons  _

_ At every level _

 

_ The moment you feel like _

_ You’ve won _

_ You then realize the more you advance _

_ The more you have to lose _

_ And nothing ever gets easier _

_ You just learn better ways _

_ To navigate a life that seemingly _

_ Becomes tougher _

 

 

__ \- R.h. sin _ _

 

Flipping page after page, Minhyun lost himself in the heartache and selfless love of r.h. Sin’s poetic world. Had not even noticed when the owner came and replaced the empty plate with a glass of orange juice. Did not even hear the bell ring at the presence of a new customer. Or the hushed whispers between the owner and customer.

_ “Ah, Jonghyun. You came early.” _

_ “Yes, uncle. I have an errand to run later so I decided to come early today.” _

_ “What can I do for you, son?” _

_ “Do you, by chance, have r.h sin’s ‘Whiskey Words and Shovel III’?” _

Minhyun was still lost in his own world when the owner pointed in his direction. 

_ “Last copy left. R.h sin’s work is always flying off the shelves.” _

This Jonghyun person nodded. He really wanted the book after completing the first two books in the series, but the person seemed to be really enjoying it. It did struck him as odd as to why the owner seemed okay with this customer just reading in front of him and, based on the owner’s words, didn’t seem like he was going to purchase it. But if the owner was okay with it, there was no reason for him to get upset. This customer came first, got the book first, and it only seemed fair for Jonghyun to wait for it.

_ “Please put it on hold for me. I’ll get it later.” _

\-----

_ ~ Hours Later ~ _

“You didn’t have to pick her up, Hyun,” Seongwu said laying out Eunae’s new skirt. It cost him 20,000 korean won, but it was the cheapest skirt he could afford at the uniform store. (Internally he cried when handed over the money to the cashier.)

Minhyun  _ ticked _ at the statement. “You were an hour late in picking up Eunae at school.”

Seongwu grimaced. Work didn’t end well for him. A customer complained that her dish was not up to her standards. ( _ Whatever those standards were,  _ they must have been impossibly high, because Seongwu knew for a fact that the restaurant hired one of the chefs in the country.) Jisung and his father came out and attempted to appease the customer with a free meal. It worked. The customer sat back down with her family and enjoyed what remained of their meal. The issue was solved in a matter of 45 minutes … And 30 minutes past the end of Seongwu’s shift. 

So he was late in picking up Eunae from her elementary school. Luckily the teacher had Minhyun’s and their friend Sungwoon’s numbers on record because this wasn’t the first time Seongwu’s been late when coming straight from work.

Now here they were, at their friend Sungwoon’s apartment, which was pretty much one room that acted as a bedroom, kitchen, and living room all rolled into one. Thank, God, the bathroom was separate. The walls were plain white with cracks. The bed was springy and had horrendous baby blue sheets that were almost coming off. 

Nevertheless, Sungwoon’s apartment was a safe haven for these boys. 

“Wassup, my fuckers!” Sungwoon kicked the door open returning from grocery shopping. And by grocery shopping, that meant a bunch of ramen packages, snacks, and cartons of banana milk. Following closely behind, Eunae and their friend Jinyoung walked in hand-in-hand. 

Ha Sungwoon would have been a first year college student but decided not to apply during his senior year of high school. What he had in mind, instead, was to audition at a talent agency, become a trainee, and maybe someday become a member of a famous boy band. 

“If it was up to me, I’d name the boy band  _ Wanna One, _ ” Sungwoon told Minhyun and Seongwu before.

“What a stupid name, hyung,” Seongwu laughed. Minhyun agreed with him.

Sungwoon pouted. “Just watch! Wanna One is gonna leave a name for itself in the music industry! I’ll be world famous!”

And Sungwoon had tried to become world famous. He saved up money from his jobs and traveled to all of the music agencies in Gangnam. Jellyfish Entertainment. Fantagio Music. Pledis Entertainment. JYP Entertainment. And even SM Entertainment. Unfortunately, while talent scouts thought he was an amazing singer, no one wanted a trainee from the Slums. So now, he worked at the same restaurant as Seongwu and lived by himself.

Minhyun sighed. “Language, Sungwoon. There’s a child behind you.”

Sungwoon looked behind him and locked eyes with said ‘child’. “Oh, where were my manners?” He placed his hands on the child’s cheeks and squeezed them. “Sorry, Jinyoung! I’ll watch my language,” Sungwoon laughed.

Both Minhyun and Jinyoung sighed. Eunae released her hand from Jinyoung’s hold and ran to her older brother. Scooping his sister up in a hug, Seongwu kissed her repeatedly.

_ *Peck, peck, peck* _

“You can’t get away from the kissing monster,” Seongwu said in the voice of the the Cookie Monster Sesame Street. 

_ *Peck, peck, peck* _

“Oppa, oppa!” Eunae giggled. Her oppa’s kisses tickled her. 

Minhyun finished carrying in the groceries while Jinyoung tried to pry his hyung’s hands off his face. ( _ Poor Jinyoung, _ Minhyun thought.) 

Jinyoung was the dongsaeng they found, one day, staring at the bakery goods through the window display. His sucked in cheeks, pale expression, and swaying were tell-tale signs that he had been starving, not just for one day, but for several days. Initially Minhyun walked right past the starving boy, mumbling to Seongwu that they were not a damn charity case. There were hundreds of others boys who had stared at that same bakery display case in pure starvation, and so Minhyun didn’t think Jinyoung was all that different or special to stop for. But Seongwu couldn’t move on from the boy. He didn’t buy the boy a baked good, because he needed to save money for Eunae, but he brought Jinyoung to Sungwoon’s apartment. They fed the boy with whatever Sungwoon had and was willing to offer. However, Sungwoon had a great dislike for children. Except for Eunae, Sungwoon would get easily frustrated and impatient with any child he came across. So he only gave the boy lettuce and carrots; but turns out, that was much more than what Jinyoung’s foster parents had given him in the previous days.  

Years later, things became better for Jinyoung. Most days he was at Sungwoon’s apartment where he was actually fed, received help with his homework, and learned how to be street-smart. Sungwoon, who grumbled whenever Seongwu brought along the boy, grew an attachment to Jinyoung. There was one time when Jinyoung was so ill he couldn’t move. It was hard for him to even take a shower by himself, but he was stinking up Sungwoon’s small apartment. And so Sungwoon gave the younger boy a bath. When the others heard that story, Seongwu told Jinyoung to refer to Sungwoon as  _ umma  _ from here on out. 

Back to reality, Minhyun finished cooking the ramen minutes later and Eunae had set up the table for her oppas. Everyone gathered and ate their bowls while Sungwoon went on and on about how he almost won the lottery the other day.

“You fuckers wouldn’t believe the numbers I had!” Everytime Sungwoon spoke, he flinged his chopsticks in the air and short ramen strands flew straight into the sky. Minhyun cringed a the mess his hyung made. Immediately he wiped the table.

“I was just one away from winning the jackpot!” Sungwoon screamed. 

“Now, Eunae,” Seongwu whispered. “What did I tell you?”

“Don’t copy Sungwoon oppa’s bad language because he’s a big potty mouth!” Eunae tried to cover her giggles.

“Exactly!” Seongwu cheered. “Sungwoon oppa is a big potty - Ah!” The big potty mouth threw a pillow at Seongwu to shut the latter up. This caused Eunae to burst out laughing and Jinyoung followed her. A person would typically be mad if a pillow was thrown in his face, but Seongwu was just happy to see his sister happy.

Dinner was soon finished and the time was nearing to 8pm - the usual time Jinyoung’s foster parents came home. Quickly, their dongsaeng bidded goodbye. Minhyun gathered his stuff too and waited for Seongwu to collect Eunae’s school materials. The little girl was in the bathroom at the moment.

“You know,” Sungwoon said, sitting on his bed. He had one leg propped up and bent so that his head could rest on his knee. The other leg was slightly bent but extended out more. “Tomorrow, you guys are starting a new year. Your final year. At a new school. What was that school called again?”

“Gangnam Arts and Science Academy,” Minhyun curtly replied. The name left a bitter taste in his mouth. 

“Jinyoung was crying earlier,” Sungwoon averted his eyes from his dongsaengs. “Crying about how he wouldn’t start his first year with his favorite hyungs. What a poor boy.”

Minhyun kept still by the door and Seongwu zipped up his sisters’ backpack.

“I think Jinyoung will be fine,” said Seongwu hopefully. “No one is going to mess with him. They all know he’s associated with….” He finished his statement by glancing in Minhyun’s direction. 

“True, true,” Sungwoon agreed, understanding the underlying meaning of Seongwu’s words. “You guys have your uniforms ready for tomorrow?” GASA gave all ‘transfer’ students waivers to pay for their new uniforms. 

“I bet the two of you will look handsome in your new uniforms. Maybe even more handsome than those snotty rich kid-”

“Sungwoon,” Minhyun cut in. At this time, the flushing of the toilet sounded throughout the tiny apartment. “We’ll be fine too.”

“Oppa, I’m done,” Eunae announced coming out of the bathroom.

Sungwoon nodded slowly and softly said, “Yeah, yeah, you guys will be fine. I’m sure of it.”

“It’s like that one song, ‘I will survive!’” Seongwu sang while putting on Eunae’s backpack for her.

“I will survive!” repeated Eunae.

“I will survive!” the siblings sang together.

_ Yeah, _ Sungwoon thought, nodding. His dongsaengs will be fine.

# 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, thank you to whoever reached this note. It probably meant you read the entire chapter and all. Or you just skipped all the way to the bottom. *Shrugs shoulders* I'll never know.
> 
> Anyyywaayyys, I will try to take it slow with this story and really work on building it up and developing the characters along the way. This fic is sort of my return to the writing world and I'm using it as a way to better my writing skills for the heck of it. So, please be kind :)
> 
> Thanks friends!


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